1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for inducing a pediatric patient to inhale a fluid pharmacological agent through a face mask. The apparatus comprises a fluid conduit through which fluid pharmacological agent may be inhaled, and a visual patient stimulator coupled to said conduit and accuatable by inspiratory or expiratory flow through said conduit. The visual stimulator of the present invention changes color in response to changing gas levels which occur during inspiration and expiration.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the medical arts, it is customary to deliver pharmacological agents to a patient. For instance, it is common to induce anesthesia in patients prior to many surgical procedures. A common method of inducing anesthesia is through the inhalation of pharmacological fluids through a face mask. The delivery of pharmacological agents through a face mask to a pediatric patient, particulary to a preschool age child, is often difficult. This difficulty is a result of many factors, including but not limited to a child's short attention span, fear, and/or an inability to comprehend the importance of inhaling pharmacological fluids.
The lack of cooperation exhibited by many pediatric patients during the course of attempting to administer pharmacological agents in fluid form can result in increased anxiety on the part of the patient, the patient's parents or guardians, and the anesthetist. There is also a risk of bodily injury to an uncooperative or combative patient. Such increased anxiety and lack of cooperation result in an increase in the time required to induce anesthesia in an uncooperative pediatric patient.
Common prior art procedures for inducing a pediatric patient to inhale pharmacological fluids for anesthesia are to allow the patient to first play with a face mask prior to the induction of pharmacological gas, so that the child becomes familiar and comfortable with mask ventilation. The term "pediatric patient" as used herein refers to young children as well as to older patients who exhibit the emotional, developmental, intellectual, and/or behavioral characteristics of young children.
The process of administering a fluid pharmacological agent comprises both inhalation or inspiration and exhalation or expiration by the patient. It is desirable to motivate the pediatric patient to maximize his breathing rate and volume of inhaled or inspired gases. The present invention provides an apparatus for inducing a pediatric patient to inhale pharmacological agent by providing a visual stimulus to the pediatric patient which induces the patient to maximize his inhalation of a pharmacological agent. An advantage of the present invention is the potential for decreased dosage or necessity of preoperative sedation.
The visual stimulus provided by the present invention is simple and inexpensive, requiring no electrical or electronic parts. This is one major advantage of the present invention over the inhaler devices of the prior art which involve complex and expensive electronics. Such prior art devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,842 to Mishelvich et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,506 to Kilis et al. Certain of these prior art devices, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,506, use display screens which display text messages. Such text message screens are of little or no value with pediatric patients who have not yet learned to read.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the visual stimulus is easily visible to a pediatric patient breathing gas through a face mask. Prior art inhalation devices comprise indicator means that are visible to a party dispensing drugs to a patient, but which provide insufficient visual or sensory stimulus to directly induce the pediatric patient to maximize his breathing. One such prior art device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,015 to Nowacki et al.